Posts Tagged ‘Disc Golf Course Review’

Since spring of 2007, I have been a loyal fan of www.DGCourseReview.com (DGCR), a leader in online reviews of Disc Golf Courses around the world.

DGCourseReview.com is a Community over over 4,000 avid Disc Golf Professionals, Amateurs, and Enthusiasts who contribute to the site through detailed Disc Golf Course reviews and by participating in the various discussion forums. The Community boasts an impressive 3,100+ reviews of domestic and international Disc Golf Courses.

With so many individuals submitting DGC reviews of varying quality, DGCR has developed a unique method of identifying credible or “Trusted Reviewers” using Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals which are displayed next to the username of the Trusted Reviewer.

After over a year of lurking on the site, reading various reviews and visiting some of the local disc golf courses, I finally decided to join the community this past January 2009. Since then, I have submitted 10 reviews of local area courses, and have acquired over 60 positive votes, while only receiving 2 negative votes on my reviews. As of Sunday, March 29th, I finally received my Bronze Medal indicating my status as a “Bronze Level Trusted Reviewer.”

Of course, to most non-writers/reviewers, this may not be of much importance, but I take great pride in providing my readers with the best analysis and course tips-and-tricks as I possibly can. When other Disc Golf players submit positive votes for my reviews, it helps to validate and appreciate the dedication that other contributors and myself have submitted to not only DGCourseReview.com, but to the entire sport of Disc Golf as a whole.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the individuals who have taken the time and patience to read my various reviews, and for providing positive feedback on them. I encourage those of you whom have never played the game of Disc Golf to give it a try sometime, and to look to sites like DGCourseReview.com and other player’s personal blogs for guidance, suggestions, and reviews.

I also urge each of you to also consider contributing to such sites, and participate in the various leagues, teams, and communities of passionate and dedicated professional and recreational disc golfers. Hopefully, if the weather is good and the timing is just right, we’ll meet each other on the course some day!

After loosing my Innova Champion Boss at Southern Community DGC a few weeks back, I finally received my new Innova Star Boss distance drivers from DiscGolfCenter.com! Besides the new “workhorse” discs, I’ve also been waiting for nicer weather here in central North Carolina.

Last Saturday, I finally got as chance to visit the Cedar Hills Rotary Park Disc Golf Course (Cedar Hills DGC) in Raleigh, NC this past Saturday afternoon, right before we left for Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. Weather conditions were approximately 68 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, and with calm winds.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the course. The light to moderate wooded landscape provided plenty of shade to play in, but allowed enough light to penetrate the course for perfectly lighted play. The scenery is typical for this type of course, and the elevation changes create a perfect balance to the course, ranging from open flats, to uphill/downhill shots, a few blind fairways, to tight corridor channels.

As with many Disc Golf Courses, Cedar Hills DGC is built into an existing City Park, and nestled in between quiet and serene neighborhoods. Please use caution when playing the course, as some of the fairways parallel baseball and playground areas. On busy days, especially on the weekends, if may become quite dangerous for little kids at the park.

Navigation Tips for Cedar Hills DGC

When you first arrive at Cedar Hills DGC, you’ll be coming down Sweetbrier Drive from Millbrook Road. Ignore the brown informational sign that tells you to turn left to get to Cedar Hills Park, and just keep driving down Sweetbrier until it dead ends into the parking lot.

Tee #1 is on the right of the parking lot, nearest the roofed information sign down toward the playground area.

The course is laid out much like Buckhorn DGC in New Hill, NC. So you’ll be playing hole after hole while going down a long trail that encircles the entire park.

From what I was able to tell some holes have multiple tees, while others do not. The regular tees are marked with concrete “sun ray” panels (usually used to surround and protect tree roots at local shopping centers and malls). The Pro Tees are indicated by “traditional” concrete tee pads.

Signage is mixed, as it seems that over the years the signs have been weathered down, damaged, vandalized, or completely omitted (theft?).

Hole #11 – Head across the parking lot to the far left corner of the baseball field to find the Tee for Hole #12.

After Hole #18, follow the path to the left toward the kids playground to find the parking lot that you parked in.

Overall, I think that the Cedar Hills Disc Golf Course, locally, is second only to Buckhorn DGC in terms of difficulty, challenge, and elevation utilization. The terrain is well mixed, but with only one water hazard, similar to Hole #17 at Buckhorn DGC. Therefore, the scenery is much more like Cornwallis DGC or Valley Springs DGC in Durham, NC.

There are currently only benches on select tees on the course, and if you are a player which requires plenty of resting areas along the course, this would not be your ideal DGC. You’ll also want to bring comfortable shoes that will support your feet on rough terrain, as part of the course require going up and down fairly graded hills.

This is a good beginner to intermediate course, which features a nice mash-up of various challenges. Water hazards and heavy brush and thick thorn bushes provide hazards on select holes. The wide open holes are great for those looking to fully utilize their power drives, while the elevation changes and tight fairways on certain holes will challenge the Technical players.

Pros:
- Different types of challenges on every hole.
- Maintained pathways, fairways, and baskets.
- Perfect mixture of woodlands, hills, and valleys.
- Multiple Tees on some holes (I didn’t find all of them)
- Maintained Concrete Tees
- Nice scenery, great for families that love DG.
Cons:
- Can be muddy even after light rain.
- Weekends can produce heavy traffic on the course.
- Mixed Condition Signage
- Not all tees have available benches
- Caution: Some baskets are parallel to kids play areas.

Buckhorn DGC (New Hill, NC) is indeed one of the most well kept, serene, and challenging courses in the Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, North Carolina).

The course is located at the Harris Lake County Park – land donated by the Sharon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, so it’s an interesting paradox considering it’s so beautiful and serene, and yet it is overshadowed by the Nuclear Power Plant.

I have played at Buckhorn DGC numerous times, and I never get tired of the unique challenges that Buckhorn provides.

In my opinion, Buckhorn is like no other course in the area. The terrain is mostly flat, with a few baskets on hilly/rocky areas, but some of the most challenging holes involve some serious water hazards, especially when playing the Pro-Tees. The course designers have truly utilized the Lake and the area ponds to their fullest potential, and thus offer players with unique and challenging holes found nowhere else in the Triangle.

There are benches located at almost every concrete tee, which is nice for those that need a place to rest. The course is extremely easy to navigate, and there is plenty of signage to guide players along.

Buckhorn is a good mixture of heavily wooded, semi-wooded, and open area fairways, but is mostly wooded. The course efficiently utilizes elevation changes. This may be a little too challenging as a beginner’s course, but is perfect for intermediate to advanced players looking for a challenge.

Cons:
- Course can be quite muddy after heavy rains.
- Weekends can produce heavy traffic on the course.
- Caution on hole #17; that pond is an infamous Disc-Eater!
- Dogs are allowed at the park, so your discs may run off…

While purchasing the Innova Star TeeRex and Star Max distance drivers from Play-It-Again Sports in Durham, NC – I had the opportunity of speaking with their resident Disc Golf enthusiast, Damien. He mentioned that there were a few new courses in the Triangle area that just opened up this year. After going to PDGA.com and DGCourseReview.com, I realized that Southern Village is a brand new course that opened up just a few weeks ago.

I visited the Southern Village Disc Golf Course in Chapel Hill, NC yesterday afternoon, right after I got off work (Thank you Daylight Savings Time!) . Weather conditions were approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, and with calm wind conditions.

It is important to note that the Southern Village DGC has not officially been completed. The baskets have been installed, but the tee pads and fairways have yet to be fully completed. In fact, the tees are marked only by a rectangular patch of open dirt, and two small orange marker flags. This review will be extremely detailed, only because there is no signage, no maps, and there are various paths that run through the course. I spend much of my time yesterday lost on the course. My hope, is that this review will help you navigate this unfinished course…

Please use caution, as the heavy leaf coverage, downed trees, and cleared trees have been left as is, and this makes this course quite dangerous for those whom don’t pay attention to where they are going. I personally finished this course with a injured ankle, a bloody wrist, and the frustration of not knowing where the next tee was… Please play this course with caution!

When you first arrive at Southern Village, you’ll be turning into Dogwood Acres Road from 15-501. You’ll want to park in the parking lot on your immediate RIGHT, otherwise the road continues into a neighborhood, and you’ll no longer be in the park.

Tee #1 is to the left toward the dog park, and you’ll see the first basket just inside of the wooded area to the right of the furthest part of the dog park. Again, remember that the tees are simple dirt patches with two small orange construction marker flags.

After hole #6, follow the path to the left of the “Oak Datum” an indention of Earth surrounded by cut wood logs, arranged in a circular pattern.

Hole #7 is heavily wooded, and only allows for a 6′ wide window of a fairway, with a sharp drop off to the right. After Hole #7, the path hits an abrupt T-intersection, you’ll want to go right.

Hole #9 is the only open field hole on the entire course, and is right near the parking lot, opposite of where Tee #1 is located. After you finish Hole #9, you’ll need to follow the sidewalk path across Dogwood Acres Road. Follow the sidewalk to the left, and look for a dirt path on the right for Tee #10.

After Hole #13, don’t cross the street. Stay on the path to the right to find the next Tee.

After Hole #15, follow the path to the right.

After Hole #16, the path hits a fork and you’ll need to go right at the fork.

After Hole #17, follow the path behind the basket to the right which parallels the bottom of the tennis courts to find the Tee for Hole #18.

Overall, I think that the Southern Villahe Disc Golf Course has the potential to be Chapel Hill’s version of Buckhorn DGC (New Hill, NC). The terrain is well mixed, but with no water hazards like Buckhorn DGC has. Therefore, the scenery is much more like Cornwallis DGC in Durham, NC or Kentwood DGC in Raleigh, NC – just on much more land, and segmented.

There are currently no benches on the course, I would assume they simply haven’t been purchased yet. This makes sense, as the fairways have barely been outlined by the cutting of trees, but not the removal of them.

I would definitelty not classify this course as a beginner’s course, regardless of what state the course is in. The heavy woods will have a tendency to eat up discs, while the heavy leaf coverage will also conceal your discs, so keep a keen eye on them. You’ll also want to bring comfortable shoes that will support your feet on rough terrain, as part of the course require going up and down fairly graded hills.

Pros:
- Park features plenty of amenities (Tennis, Fields, Dog Park, etc…)
- Extra long holes on the back nine.

Cons:
- Unfinished Course
- Heavily Wooded Course
- No Signage (as of currently)
- No Benches (as of currently)
- Difficult to find markers/tees.
- Too many paths which don’t always lead to the next tee.
- Tees have not been poured (assuming they plan to have concrete tees)

North Carolina hasn’t blessed us with very good disc golfing weather in the past few months, but with our light snow cover and fairly navigable roads, Ally A. and I decided to take our chances in the snow yesterday afternoon.

Kentwood is much like many other courses, in that it is placed right on top of an existing City Park. The terrain is mostly flat, with a few baskets on hilly/rocky areas, and there’s a few creeks (water hazards) and ditches to avoid. There are only a few holes which are surrounded by trees, but most of the holes are in wide open areas.

It was very difficult finding the first tee when we first arrived, especially since we’d never played this course before. Hint: The first tee is between the parking lot and the playground equipment, facing the street.

There are benches scattered throughout the course, which is nice for those that need a place to rest. Due to space restrictions, many of the fairways cross each other, and so you’ll have to constantly watch for stray discs. We played on a fairly slow day, due to the snow, but I’ve heard that Kentwood Park is normally packed with people.

This is a great beginner’s course in the heart of Raleigh, NC and right next to NC State University. The park has a playground for kids, Tennis Courts, and a baseball field for the members of your group that don’t feel like playing disc golf.

Considering the land size they had to work with, I think they designed this course rather well, and it is also well maintained. I just wish they had more markers and signage to assist players to navigate the course.

Pros:
- Well maintained course.
- Benches available all over the course for those in need of them.
- Wide open fairways for 200-300 distance drives.
- (Qty: 2) Practice Baskets.

Cons:
- Hard and sometimes rocky ground tears into discs.
- Some areas are covered in rocky stones, so bring your comfortable hiking shoes.
- Water hazards (after rain/snow) can cause you to lose discs, or you getting wet.
- Baskets are difficult to distinguish from the surrounding terrain and woods.
- No signage, and difficult to find markers/tees.